Question about how to make a living from open source

[tzahi ml]

It appears not to sound that fun when you tell it like it is.
I am just closing a startup, not too keen to start a new one right away.

A startup has no business sense.
However, I was hoping there is a middle ground, a business sense and a
certain risk.
The current idea I have is to freelance until I figure this out.
Perhaps mix freelancing and a making a risky business.

Is there some freelance/small company names with successful models in open
source in Israel?
It is hard to believe there is no middle ground, either freelance, be
employed or start a startup.
I have no trouble with slow progress but the aim is to scale eventually...


On Thu, Sep 18, 2014 at 4:00 PM, David Suna <david at davidsconsultants.com>
wrote:

>
> On 09/18/2014 02:56 PM, Jonathan Ben Avraham wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 18 Sep 2014, tzahi ml wrote:
>>
>>  Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:15:40 +0300
>>> From: tzahi ml <tzahi.ml at gmail.com>
>>> To: "linux-il at cs.huji.ac.il" <linux-il at cs.huji.ac.il>
>>> Subject: Question about how to make a living from open source
>>>
>>> Hi All,I am in need of assistance.
>>>
>>> I am currently working as a freelancer coding stuff in a company.
>>> However, although I am making good living, this does not scale much (and
>>> promotion is out of the question :) ).
>>>
>>> Anyway, I am looking for ways to scale.
>>>
>> A different way to say the same thing:
> You can choose to be an employee in which case your earning potential is
> limited to what the current market value of someone with your skill set is.
> Doesn't "scale" but does provide you with benefits, a "guaranteed" salary
> and a corporate culture for advancement.
>
> Or, you can choose to work for yourself. This have several variations:
> 1. Working as a contractor - Generally this allows you to charge a higher
> hourly rate. The down side is you have to provide your own benefits,
> accounting, etc. You also lose the stability of it being someone else's job
> to generate work for you. This also does not "scale" as you are limited to
> the number of hours a day you can work and the going market rate for the
> skill set you have.
>
> 2. Produce a product - Build a better mouse trap and sell it. This is not
> necessarily in line with the open source way of doing things. However, it
> is a common business plan. This has the potential to "scale" as you can
> develop the product once and sell it many times. You have the significant
> risk of startup and development costs and whether the product will be
> successful.
>
> 3. Provide a service - Along the lines of the idea you suggested of
> hosting complex solutions. This is similar to being a contractor but the
> focus is on marketing the service you provide rather you and your  skill
> set. This only has the potential to scale by having other people (employees
> or contractors) provide the service in the name of your company. Your
> profit is the cost you can charge the client minus the cost of the worker
> actually doing the work. You also take on the responsibility of generating
> enough work to cover the costs of the worker(s) and yourself. With all of
> the joys that Yonatan described in his email.
>
>
> --
> David Suna
> david at davidsconsultants.com
>
>
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>
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